1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for cutting a tube at each knot containing ham or sausage.
Ham and sausage charged into a tube bag undergo the heating process with their ends bound up by metallic fastening rings. These knots at the ends of each tube bag containing ham or sausage protrude sideways and hinders the wrapping process which is done before delivery. Therefore the protruded portions must be cut off to facilitate the wrapping process.
The process of cutting the protruding knots have conventionally been done manually by workers using scissors. This cutting process is very hard for the manual workers since they have to work continuously for longer hours and sometimes suffer the inflammation of a tendon sheath. The work efficiency therefore is low.
2. Summary of the Invention
The primary object of this invention is to provide a device which overcomes the aforementioned problems and which automatically cut off a large number of knots of tube bags at high speed and with accuracy.
Japanese laid open application No. P55-116,542 teaches to cut off the bound portion of the tube bag by a pair of edge tools being brought into abutting engagement with each other like a nail clipper.
However, when the bound portion is cut off, if the edge tools are pressed on the casing at a too deep position, then even the ham material will be partially removed. On the other hand, if the tools are pressed on it at a too shallow position, the casing may be cut off at an external position to the metal ring of the bound portion.
In the above Japanese laid open application No. P55-116,542, in order to prevent the above trouble, the edge tools are provided respectively with inclined surfaces which act to push the vicinity of a bound portion of the casing stuffed with the ham material to bring the edges of the tools into abutting engagement with each other while allowing these edges to escape from the ham material.
But, there is possibility of the casing being cut off either on the ham material at a too deep position, or at the metal ring, or at an external position to the metal ring, because the metal ring encroaches often upon the end portion of the casing stuffed with the ham material.
To cut off the protruding knotted ends of tube bags containing ham or sausage, it is necessary to place the blade of the cutter between the content of bag and the fastening ring. This is, however, difficult because they are very close to each other. The cutter often cuts deep into the sausage content or cuts the metal ring damaging its blade. In this way, it is very difficult to successively cut off the tube end and the metal ring without slicing off the content of sausage or ham.
The second object of this invention is to provide a device which overcomes the above drawbacks and which has a very simple and inexpensive mechanism that makes it possible to cut off only the tube ends and fastening metal rings accurately and quickly and to preclude the possibility of the cutter slicing the sausage content or hitting against the metal ring damaging the blade.
The third object of this invention is to provide a device capable of continuous use for long hours which is installed in a series of automatic production lines to automatically cut off a large number of knotted ends of the tube bags successively.
The fourth object of this invention is to provide a device which can undergo frequent cleaning by water without producing any fault or trouble.
This invention is based on the idea that the retracted turtle's neck must be drawn out before being cut off. With this invention this is accomplished by the following steps: first, an annular stopper is placed against one end of the bag to prevent it from advancing; the knotted portion protruding from the stopper is pinched by pliers; both or either of the stopper and the plier is pulled to extend the portion between the peripheral portion of the bag restricted by the stopper and the knotted end pinched and pulled by the plier; and then the extended portion is cut by the blade of cutter. Another feature of this invention is that a pair of bag cutter units are installed asymmetrically on each side of the conveyor and a pair of pushers are directed toward the cutter units so that as the conveyor feeds the sausages at certain intervals the pushers are activated to press the sausages against the cutter units to automatically and successively cut off the knotted ends of the sausages.